Sunday May 22nd

Sundays just lately seem to have developed a distinct theme - wind! For the third Sunday in a row I was greeted by the sound of the wind when I got up at 6.30am.


I hadn't walked round the lake before the draw, but I fancied any of the pegs in the open water as they were the least affected by the wind and also I feel offer the best chance of catching short should the wind get worse. There were a few of those pegs left when I put my hand in the bag too, but instead I drew 59, one of the pegs in the line round the island that really struggled last time.


When I got to the peg the wind was blowing down both arms of the island and into me, but I was shielded from the worst of the wind by the island with just a bit of ripple coming round the corner. The wind didn't prevent me from fishing across, and 14.5m was enough to reach tight to the island in about 16in of water. I wasn't going to place too much faith in this line, if the island produces it does so early on. The two main lines were a 2+2 line, in about five and a half foot of water a .4gr NG Decker was the choice, a very stable pattern and plenty up to the tow I had. The last line was the one I hoped would go, the margins. The peg has a long margin to the right to draw fish from and while there was nothing moving in my peg I was confident the wind pushing my way would move some in. This line was at about 9m down the bank into a nice bay in the bank in a little over 2ft of water, using a .2gr DC5 float. Lines on the far and middle rigs was .17 to .15 with an 18 Fox Series 2 hook, while the margin rig was on .19 to .17 to a 16 Fox Series 2. Lakky's were 15h on the far and 2+2 line and purple Hydro for the margin.


On the whistle I fed a pinch of 6mm pellets across, while the 2+2 line had a pinch of hemp and corn. The margins had half a pot of hemp and corn. I'd elected not to feed any meat on the margins due to the tow, keeping to heavier baits to keep the fish on the deck. On the first drop roach shredded the expander so I went over to a banded pellet and started to drip pellets over the top. On the forty-five minute mark I'd only had roach knocks across so I topped up the margins (the pegs either side had a fish each from their edges) and went on to the 2+2 line, where I'd been dripping corn.


I'd spent half an hour on the closer line with just one line bite from a fish I could see cruising, which was the first carp I'd seen in my peg, so I went back across. I had around twenty minutes across with just roach nudges on an expander to show so I dropped in on the 2+2 line again. I had an odd liner which was encouraging, then as I looked up at the next peg to see them net a fish I felt a tug as a fish hooked it's self. The result was a common of around 3lb or so, and was followed with similar sized fish on the next two drops. Predictably, as it was early for the line to produce it faded away, so I topped it up with a decent pinch of hemp and corn and had a drop in the margins, although this never produced.


A fishless forty-five minutes saw me half way in to the match so I decided to push the margins a bit by feeding a bit more often via the large cup. With just over two hours left this paid off with my first bite down the edge on double corn, although the fish was my smallest at about 2lb! Topping up with a large toss-pot of hemp and corn the next three drops all produced carp around the 4lb mark before the fish seemed to back off. I topped up with half a pot and dropped back on to the 2+2 line where I lost a fish before a spell of liners with no bites led me to nudge the float up a bit to give a little more stability to the bait, plus trying double corn. This had the effect I wanted as a fish fell strait away, and another the next drop before a large tail waving over the margin led me to want to try that again!


Over the edge the fish drifted off as soon as I dropped over them, and while I'd just pulled away from the pegs either side I had no idea what anyone else had caught, I decided with just over an hour to go it was time to force the margins! A whole pot of bait was noisily slapped in to the edge and then I dropped in over it with a lump of meat. The next fifty minutes or so gave me a steady run of fish, and if a bite didn't follow after I topped up with the toss-pot a whole big pot worked! Not massive fish but they were coming steady. With twenty minutes to go I put my fifteenth carp in the net, and then on the next drop hooked a fish which felt much bigger than all the others. I carefully played it back to the top-kit when the hook pulled! The last spell of the match was frustrating as I missed five bites down the edge, the only bites I missed all day.


I had no idea what others had apart from those either side but I guessed I had somewhere between 50-55lb. When the scales got to me 30lb was the top weight and my fish went 52lb 10oz, almost dead in the middle of my guess! This was comfortably top until peg 70 pushed me very close putting 51lb 4oz on the scales. I didn't see the others weigh in but those weights were enough for a Spurs fan 1-2, with I think that 30lb weight from the first peg being third.


I have to say, the win aside, I enjoyed the day! I felt I worked hard at the swim and made the right decisions with the feeding and even though it took me a while to put a few fish together I was always sure I would get a few should I keep plugging away, and it was nice to be able to influence the swim and get a result from a peg that, to be honest, I didn't want! Next week is a bank holiday weekend so I'm not sure what day I'll be fishing next weekend, but I will be out!

Sunday 15th May

With a full house again this Sunday I wasn't really sure where I wanted to draw on the New Lake, my only request was a peg out of the wind! When peg 23 came out of the bag in my hand I was well happy, as not only was I off the worst of the wind but I also had a fair bit of room! I've tried to upload the picture of the peg but for some reason it won't (I will try again later!) but it's the same peg I drew on my first blog, should you want to look!

Obviously the first line of attack was a small method to the island. Normal gear here was my trusty 10ft puddle-chucker and a small 30gr Preston in-line method. Normally I'd use Dynamite Swim-Stim for the groundbait but I'd decided to pick up the bag of Marukyu something or other that I was given by a mate to try - it's been in the shed for ages so I thought I'd use it! Standard fayre otherwise, with size 16 Kammy Animals on .18 hook-links completeing the set-up. I had two lines ear-marked for the pole; a 5m line and a margin rig in to the bay to my left at 13m. The 5m line was in 5ft of water using a .4gr NG Decker. Line was .17 to .15 and an 18 Fox Series 2 on black hydro. I had two rigs for the margin in 2ft of water, both .2gr DC5's on .19 line, just one with a .17 hook-link and 16 Fox Series 2, the other with a .15 hook-link and an 18 hook. The stronger was on purple hydro and the other on Preston 15h. I wanted a lighter option as sometimes the fish are smaller in the peg, or so I've found.

With the whistle blowing I started off by feeding both the pole swims, both a bit lighter than perhaps normal for the time of year in the cold north-westerly wind. Starting on the method to the corner of the island it was a good twenty minutes before I had any indications, with the next two chucks also giving liners before the tip finally yanked round with a fat 4lb+ common, funilly enough on the first cast after I'd buried the bait right in the feeder instead of leaving it on top of the mould. Thinking I had it sussed I did the same again, but I most definetly didn't as no bites followed on the next two drops so I had a brief (biteless) spell on both pole lines.


Pretty much first chuck back on the feeder and another bite saw me attached toa fish that felt bigger, but it wasn't really much bigger, just one of the black and gold/silver koi that inhabit the lake and fight like stink!


As seemed to be the theme for the last few weeks the swim totally died, and I coudln't get a bite! I'd bought worm with me and started to introduce choppy and caster to the margin in a bid to draw some lif e in to the swim, but it just didn't work! And it was the same for everyone, apart from peg 27 who I could see was nicking an odd fish.


With an hour to go a brace of big commons started to cruise in and out of the bay to my left so I abandoned the feeder and plugged away more on the pole in the edge. I decided to feed whole cups of loose groundbait to give a fair amount of attractant with little feed. Fishing a fair size dendra over the top I started to get an odd liner with half an hour to go, then with just ten minutes to go the float went and the lakky followed! After playing what was obviously a lump for about five minutes the hook just in-explicably pulled.... And I swore very loud.


As the scales came round 20lb was top weight with 16lb second. I tipped back 9lb with two fish and the late lost fish was most likey a double costing me definetly third and in all likelyhood second, with 32lb winning and that 20lb being second. The only saving grace was listening to van der Vaart smash one home from 2o yards as I was packing up, then Modric stabbing in a (dubious) penalty as I left the peg on the radio as Spurs completed the league double over Liverpool (sorry Carl!) Still, it enlightened my day when everything in the fishing seemed to want to go against me!

Sunday 8th May

Having little time to sit at the laptop and write this weeks update will be a bit brief!


With a near full house I wanted to draw a peg in the open water with a bit of room. What I actually drew was the narrowest peg around the island, peg 53! It can be a good summer peg as it has a long margin, but my hopes there weren't great as peg 55 was in, which is seldom used.


To save the boredom I'll not drag out my two carp and three roach for about 9lb! I sat in a row of six pegs where only two people weighed in, and to be honest I don't know why they bothered. The days frustrations weren't helped by the angler on the next peg firing pouches of corn down the margins into my peg and words were had, although in truth it probably had very little effect as the fish just wearn't there to catch! The open water pegs fished fairly steady with a few close weights and 47lb winning.


With a bit of luck the fish will spawn soon and spread out looking for some grub - allowing me to try and make something happen. It's frustrating sitting in summer weather catching less than I was in February.

May Bank Holiday Pairs

Well, the year is certainly rolling in! May already, bringing with it the annual May Day pairs match.


As per usual I fish the first lake in the pairs and was sent to draw the pegs, coming out with pegs 70 and 20, which we were happy with! On sitting down at the peg just one thing concerned me - the wind! Walking around the lake it was the windiest area of the lake, blowing right to left and then hitting the big tree's behind the lake and swirling back.


First line of attack was the pole at 16.5m in to the bay in about 15in of water, this rig was on .15 direct to an 18 Fox Series 2 to Preston 15h lakky, with the float a Nick Gilbert XTM. I also put up my 10ft Puddle Chucker to fish a small method as the wind was so bad. My second line was at 5m, using a .4gr NG Decker on .17 line to a .15 hook-link and an 18 Fox Series 2. This was in about 6ft of water. Last up was a rig for 10m to my right in the margins in about 2ft of water. This was on .18 direct to a 16 Fox Series 2 and matched to purple hydro with the float a .2gr DC5.


On the whistle (well, not quite as I was catching up with a mate who I'd not seen for a while) I fed the 5m line with half a pot of corn and hemp, while the margin received a whole pot of meat, hemp and corn. Shipping across and the wind was a bit of a hand full but it didn't take long to start getting signs of fish. On the half hour mark I got fed up of hanging on for grim death in the wind and quickly knocked up a bit of crumb for the method. I'd seen others catch in their more sheltered swims and didn't want to fall too far behind!


I had a quick try on the 5m line while waiting for the crumb to soak up the water but it was lifeless (I wasn't surprised so early) so I topped up the margin and loaded up the method and flicked it across to were I'd been fishing. It didn't take long for the tip to yank round and in four chucks over about twenty minutes I had four carp in the net for about 14lb. My thinking I had it sussed didn't last long as the next few chucks met with no response.


A brief try on the two closer pole lines wasn't met with any joy so I made the most in a lull in the wind by dropping in on the long pole. I was just toying with bringing it in and trying closer when a bite saw me playing a fish bigger than the others I'd had. After a lively fight an 8lb mirror was in the net and the day was looking much more interesting, especially when it was followed by a 5lb common next drop. Then however, the wind intervened and I couldn't hold the pole still across again.


The next hour was frustrating, I couldn't hold the pole still enough to get a bite but the fish were most definitely there, while the method seemed to make fish back away. The wind carried on picking up and got to the point where I didn't dare put the pole across (it bought down a large tree not too far away with an almighty crack!) and the fish totally vanished from across. I couldn't get a bite from either of the two lines and upped the feed in the margins in the attempt to bring it to life but I ended the match on the six carp I'd caught early. The only movement of note later in the match was when I had to get up and put my coat on as the cold north-easterly wind was making me rather cold!


On the scales I totalled 28lb 3oz for fifth on the lake, just 5oz off fourth with the two top weights coming from the two most sheltered pegs on the lake. My partner had managed a lake third and overall we managed third pair, two points behind 2nd and three points behind first, saving what had been a frustrating day where there had been fish there that I wasn't able to fish properly for. In hindsight I wished I'd bought worm to fish choppy, something that I think fish hang on to for longer and lets you fish over depth, both a help in rough conditions! Next week should be back to normal Sunday matches and will hopefully see me in to a few fish.

Monday 25th April

After a hectic few weeks it was nice to get back to relative normality, I even managed a few days relaxing in the garden! Perhaps I should have made a few rigs up, as making up the rigs on the bank meant I was late starting.

With a full house I didn't really know where I wanted to draw, but I was happy with the peg I drew (66) as I had a bit of room. First line of attack was at 16m to the island up the side of a small clump of reeds, fishing in about 20 inches of water. The rig was a NG Floats XTM on .15 line direct to an 18 Fox Series 2 hook with Preston 15h lakky finishing it off. The Margin rig was about 10m down the edge to my left in 3ft of water, a .2gr DC5 float on .18 line direct to a 16 Fox Series 2 and purple hydro, proper summer gear! Last up was for the 2+2 line. In about 5ft of water float was .3gr NG decker on .17 line to a .15 hook-link and an 18 Fox Series 2, with black hydro the lakky.

The margin line was fed with a medium pot of hemp, corn and meat while the 2+2 line had half a pot of corn with a small amount of hemp. I then baited up the far bank rig with a 6mm expander and filled the toss-pot up with 6mm hard pellets. It didn't take long to get a response, but unfortunately it was from bait robbing small roach! A switch to a banded hard pellet saw me briefly hook a fish but it came off after a few minutes. I could hear that others were catching but it took 45 minutes until my first carp fell, a common of about 3lb. I topped up the margin line after (I was loose feeding with corn on the 2+2 line)

No more bites followed long on the hard pellet apart from odd roach knocks so I decided to top up the long line with a quarter of a pot of pellets. I had brief tries on the two closer lines but had no response even though I could see fish cruising so I went back across. I had an instant response with another common of about 3lb but again the swim went quiet again. The next hour and a half produced two more carp of about 3lb, both times after resting the long line but I couldn't raise a bite from either of the two other lines.

With just over two hours to go I dropped across and had three carp in three drops over half a pot of pellets (I'd abandoned the toss-pot due to the wind), all three about the 4lb mark before the swim totally died. I topped it up but the bites didn't come back so I had a brief try on the 2+2 line, which produced one missed bite that was suspiciously roachy. I'd fed a pot of bait in the margin before trying the 2+2 line and when I dropped in the edge with a cube of meat it'd been in for about 5 minutes before the float buried and a sluggish fish chugged out of the swim. After 5 minutes (in which the fish woke up) a common of about 8lb was in the net. A brief try after gave no joy so I topped up the swim again.

The next hour was barren where ever I tried so with nothing to lose I fed a whole pot of bait on each of the two closer lines. I tried a cube of meat on the 2+2 line and this quickly got a response from a mirror about 5lb, and next chuck a common of about the same size fell too. No more bites followed so I kept rotating the two closer lines but had nothing to show but a liner from the margins until 10 minutes before the end when another common of about 5lb fell to meat on the 2+2 line.

With 11 carp at the end for a weight I'd guess to be in the early to mid 40's I thought I'd done well until I heard that one angler was admitting to 17 and two people had 13. When the scales got to me 35lb was top weight. My fish went a level 44lb and I didn't follow the scales after as I expected a few others to beat me and I still had stuff to pack away. When I got to the car park it turned out that my weight was good enough for 2nd and I was just 3lb 6oz behind 1st. The weights were close, with just 12lb separating the top 5.

I have to admit I enjoyed the day, I had to work the bait a lot to get bites and coming second was a result much better than I thought, but being just one fish short of first makes me think I could have perhaps sneaked out one more!

Next week is the May Bank Holiday pairs match, we came joint first last year, this year we're hoping not to share that honour!

A Quick Update!

This is the first time I've had a chance to sit down and write an update, albeit only a quick one! I did fish Sunday, drawing a peg I didn't really fancy. In short, I struggled, starting on pellet after the warmer weather but it just didn't happen. A second half switch to caster saw me catch four small carp and a crucian for about 8lb in total which I tipped back, a couple of low 3olb+ weights made up the top three. I'll be back on the bank Monday, much better prepared and will hopefully see a few fish in my net!

Sunday 3rd April (W/L Rd 6)

Well, it seemed that the final round of the winter league was to be fished in spring! A quick check of the board and a little maths revealed that although I was lying second in the league finishing in the top three would guarantee me first place regardless due to the fact I would be dropping less points than the leader (the best five results from six count). Walking around before hand I still wanted a late draw - anything past peg 20 would do me but when my hand went in the bag I couldn't have got further away as I drew peg 1!

Putting my box down I was a bit dismayed, the lake is basically a "Q" shape with the island in the middle, with only one peg in the tail of the "Q", and that was where I was sat! I could see an odd fishing moving but I was sure they'd go as soon as I either caught or waved the pole over them. You have no far bank to fish as such, the bank you can see in the picture was my own where the bank goes round as the lake finishes. I decided to treat it like I would the island and after a fair amount of plumbing I found a reasonable slope to fish at about 15.5m where the tree is in the picture. Depth here was about 3ft with the rig being a 4x12 Preston Somo on .14 line direct to a 16 B611. The same rig also doubled as a margin rig for 9m to my left along the bank, under where the inflow pipe comes into the lake. With the far line being very up and down along the bank I also put up a shallow rig to fish punch, a 4x10 Preston PB2 with the same line and hook as the previous rig. Last up I set up a rig to fish at about 11 o'clock at 13m into the open water. The depth here was just over 6ft, with the rig being a .4gr NG Floats decker on .15 line to a .14 hook-link and a 16 B611. Lakky on all the rigs was Preston 13h on pull-bungs.

On the whistle I fed the open water line with a pinch of dampened 4mm pellets and three grains of corn while the left margin had the same but with a pinch of hemp on top before I tried the furthest line with just a grain of corn, looking for any signs of fish. After a few minutes without an indication I put on a small cad-pot and dripped a few pellets on the line. After half an hour without anything I saw a sign of a fish a bit more into the corner so I put the shallow rig on with a large punch and dropped it in where I'd seen the movement. It took about thirty seconds before the float buried and after a lively fight a ghostie of about 6lb was in the net. What I thought was a good start got even better when the next drop the same happened and a smaller common of about 4lb was in the net. Any thoughts of bagging up soon went as the next twenty minutes were bite less.

A try on the open water line gave nothing on corn so I tried a pellet (I'd been flicking a few 4mm pellets over it by catapult) and this produced a tiny roach so I went back on the shallow rig towards the corner. After dropping the rig in various places along the bank I eventually had another bite on the punch which produced a very long lean common of about 5lb but no more followed. Going back onto the open water line again only produced knocks from roach so I decided to try the margins to my left. I had ten or so bite less minutes here before topping it up, deciding to put a few casters in too. The next half an hour produced nothing from either the long line or the open water line so I found myself back in the left margin on double caster. I had a liner pretty soon after dropping in which gave me some encouragement and the float slipped away shortly after, but the resulting carp was barely more than a pastie! A bite on the same line about twenty minutes later produced a dumpy 6oz perch but no more followed.

The rest of the match can be summed up pretty simply, as I never had another fish! Much as I thought it would happen the fish moved out of the bay I was in and I could see other people catching fish in the last few hours. I tried upping the feed in the margins, and also starting a new swim at 16m on the point of the bank but I never saw a sign of a fish in my swim until a carp swirled in the corner where I had caught five minutes before the end. I dropped the punch rig over it and the float dipped but I missed it! And that was that... I could see the leader had caught more than me, plus one other angler who'd had a couple of lumps and with someone admitting to a few carp it looked like I'd finish 4th on the day and second overall in the league.

As first to weigh (and drawing the scales) my fish went 17lb 11oz. I was pushed down into second by the leader who had 38lb odd but stayed in that position until the last angler to weigh in put 20lb something on the scales pushing me down into third on the day. I'd endured a frustrating day but as I dropped less points than the leader after my second round disaster I finished a single point ahead of them with my best five results being two firsts, a second and two thirds to win the league!

No blog next week I'm afraid, as I'm up stupidly early in the morning to go to Belfast for the week but it's back to normal after that. Hopefully in a fortnight the fish should be eating and I'm looking forward to being able to put a bit of grub in to make things happen!